


Turned out okay

by Lacerta



Category: The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: Gen, Getting Together, HYDRA messes around with magic, M/M, and taking their time, turned into animals
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-01-29
Updated: 2020-01-29
Packaged: 2021-02-27 12:47:14
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,800
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22463572
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Lacerta/pseuds/Lacerta
Summary: He heard a snicker that he recognised as Clint's and the sound of StarkPhone's shutter."Thebestkind of content for Twitter." Clint grunted as soon as he said that, and Tony turned his head quick enough in that direction to see Natasha retreat her hand from where she cuffed the archer's head and steal his phone."Durak," Nat scoffed, her fingers moving quickly across the phone's keyboard. "Stark would make your life hell if you did that."It was only then that Tony tried to move his hands again, and when he couldn't, he tried to speak. Instead of his voice, he heard a distinctively bird-like croak, and got a happy-sounding meowl in response.
Relationships: Steve Rogers & Tony Stark, Steve Rogers/Tony Stark
Comments: 8
Kudos: 60
Collections: POTS (18+) Stony Stocking 2019





	Turned out okay

**Author's Note:**

  * For [coaster](https://archiveofourown.org/users/coaster/gifts).
  * In response to a prompt by [coaster](https://archiveofourown.org/users/coaster/pseuds/coaster) in the [stony_stocking_2019](https://archiveofourown.org/collections/stony_stocking_2019) collection. 



> **Prompts:**  
>  \-- What the hell happened to Tony (or Steve)???  
> \-- Accidentally turned into animals: An Avengers mission leaves Steve and Tony (and only them) transformed into [insert animal]s. Despite their rocky relationship, they take the change better than their team mates.
> 
> I aimed for 1k and look what happened. I hope you enjoy it, coaster! Merry winter season!

When Tony woke up, he didn't immediately summon his suit. Not because he didn't want to, mind, but because he found himself incapable of performing the hand gestures that would send the signal to deploy the armour. His brain was in overdrive to solve the engineering issue (simpler gestures? no, too easy to perform by mistake, but brain waves? how come that he still wasn't using brainwaves? he could probably read up enough on neurology before Friday, if Pepper excused him from enough meetings and the villains of the week stayed put...) before he registered his surroundings.

He was pretty sure it was the med bay of the Avengers Tower; sadly, he knew the place well enough to recognise it quickly, and not only from the blueprints. He wasn't one hundred percent sure, however, it felt... off. He was lying but not in his usual bed, he was warm but it didn't feel like the blanket's warmth, plus the colours were... different, somehow. Like someone screwed with their saturation.

Tony was about 27% sure he was captured and put in a semi-professional replica of the medical rooms to trick him into believing he was safe, and the percentage increased when he felt something reverberate against his back.

But then he heard a snicker that he recognised as Clint's and the sound of StarkPhone's shutter. The vibration against Tony's back paused and Tony ruffled...

"The _best_ kind of content for Twitter." Clint grunted as soon as he said that, and Tony turned his head quick enough in that direction to see Natasha retreat her hand from where she cuffed the archer's head and steal his phone. Nat and Clint also looked different in a way, Tony started suspecting it was something off with his eyesight rather than the room itself.

" _Durak_ ," Nat scoffed, her fingers moving quickly across the phone's keyboard. "Stark would make your life hell if you did that."

It was only then that Tony tried to move his hands again, and when he couldn't, he tried to speak.

Instead of his voice, he heard a distinctively bird-like croak, and got a happy-sounding meowl in response.

***

"Isn't that what the Avengers do, Cap?" Tony growled into the comms. "Risk our lives?"

He was out of his suit, the empty armour hovering silently by his side. The scans showed that this wing of the Hydra base was empty, except for a couple of silhouettes in the far room, the same one that radiated in the spectrum Tony knew to connect with the ~~magical~~ as of yet unexplained effects of the latest brand of Hydra's weapons. They used it once to cover Central Park in permafrost, the effect lasted for a couple of days. Another time they managed to change the colour of everything the weapon affected to green. It took almost a whole month for Barton's hair to go back to his usual blond.

The most interesting, but at the same time most frustrating thing was that according to all Tony's sensors, the effects were not _there_ , even if the experience would show otherwise. No fire could melt the ice, but the broken arms that resulted from people slipping on it were real. Similarly, no hair dye would affect Barton's hair. All they knew was that the more impact the effect had, the sooner it disappeared, but they had no idea how to counteract.

They needed the sample of that weapon, but apparently Cap didn't accept that part of the plan. Tony was pissed, not that it was any surprise when it came to him and Rogers.

"Not recklessly like this, Iron Man." Tony could hear disapproval in Capsicle's voice even through the comms. The frustration only grew. "We're a _team_ , and I'm a team leader, so-"

"So what? You'll ground me?" Tony scoffed, moving quickly through the corridor. He was cautious but the window breaking still surprised him.

He had his own arm, and the armour's arm up and directed at the unexpected threat, repulsor whirring with its stored power, before he realised that it was Steve The Idiot, who must've jumped from the roof into the corridor Tony was in. What the fuck was he thinking?! Tony positively fumed.

"Are you _insane_?! I could've blasted you!"

Steve just shrugged, brushed the broken glass from his uniform and put his shield back on his forearm.

"You're not going in without back-up, not on my watch."

Damn near shrieking in frustration, Tony squared his shoulders and moved again in the same direction.

"I'm not some fucking child you can't let out of your eyes, Rogers, I can take care of myself," he said, pointing at the armour following him with his chin. "Second room on the right."

"You're not? I wouldn't have guessed," Steve replied, snark in his voice, and Tony fumed again.

It didn't stop them from seamlessly falling into their place, Steve moving in front with his shield, Tony putting on an armour mid-step to follow Cap into the room, loaded repulsor ready to fire.

"Who do you think you are, Cap-?!"

They barged into the room, prepared for assault, but they were not prepared for one of the two frightened scientists in the room to push the button on a box that Tony's HUD had highlighted in alarming red.

***

Okay, so when Tony remembered what happened right before he lost consciousness and had the rest of the story filled in by the rest of the team, he could admit it wasn't ideal.

The scientists in the Hydra lab were working on an amplified version of the weapon. Good news: they intercepted the design and could reverse-engineer it to understand its working. Bad news: no one could tell how long the effects would last this time, seeing as the scientists were also affected by the radiation. Had it been Barton's hair again, Tony would've found it hilarious. Not so much when it was him and Cap stuck with the consequences.

Seeing in ultraviolet was pretty cool, and it gave Tony a few new ideas about adding new sensors to the next version of the armour. What he didn't enjoy was the lack of his voice and fingers. Turning into a bird wasn't as fun as the pop-culture made it look like.

When Tony woke up, the whole team had filed into the room, and Peter had brought in a mirror; there was a reason Parker was Tony's favourite. If he didn't see it with his own eyes, he'd probably refuse to believe that the weapon really turned him and Rogers into animals. A raven, at least the bird's intelligence was quite fitting, Tony reluctantly approved. Cap becoming a house cat was rather unexpected, but he made quite a pretty cream Maine Coon.

Thankfully the weapon didn't give the mind-reading powers to anyone, or Tony would be doomed if someone heard that last part.

***

Tony was a genius, and keeping Peter as his personal intern was one of his most genius idea. The kid was bright enough to pick up Tony's limited version raven-talk and experienced enough to carry out tasks that Tony needed done, so quickly after Tony regained some of his bearings, or at least was able to stand on his own two bird-feet, the two of them ended up holed up in the workshop.

"Have they told you that Cap didn't leave your side since we found you in the Hydra lab?" Peter asked offhandedly, while inputting the data the other man croaked at him to run in the simulation.

Tony's feathered ruffled on their own and he shot a quick glance to the lab's door, where on the other side of the glass panel, the cat-Steve was sleeping. He appeared soon after Bruce had finished all the tests he could come up with (that Tony refused to partake in, but Steve was a goody two shoes and had patiently gone through all of them), and at some point Natasha brought him a blanket to lie on, seeing as he huffed and refused to leave his guard by the door.

"Don't worry, Mr Stark, if I can't hear him, he can't hear us, the lab's totally soundproof and you know that." Peter picked up his mentor's discomfort. "We can talk freely about how awfully protective he is of you."

Tony reacted with wide-spread wings and a harsh, grating call, which was meant to be threatening but the kid only laughed. Insolent brat, Tony clearly had let him get away with too many things. 

"It's cute, honestly, Mr Stark! Clint has a whole photo collection of-"

Some things are universally understood, no matter the language, because when Tony screeched, flapping his wings furiously, FRIDAY spoke up immediately.

"I have deleted the pictures from Agent Barton's phone, sir," she said, and Tony froze, wings stretched-out wide, tilting his head. He was glad that she did but at the same time... "I have copied them to your personal folder, sir," FRIDAY added slyly.

Tony lowered his wings, but kept his head tilted in consideration. It took him a minute to decide he approved. (God, he loved his AIs, knowing him better than he did himself.)

***

The DNA tests confirmed that both Rogers and Tony were still human, despite all the empirical proof saying otherwise. All the simulations (and an experiment that no one would've allowed Tony to conduct if they had known about it) suggested that the effects of the weapon (Tony refused to call it a curse even in his own thoughts) would last somewhere between a week or a month, they couldn't be sure, but the team worried.

At least a week in an animal form. A week with two Avengers out of the game, and a lot could happen in a week. There was some talk about the side-effects, too. Everyone noticed how cat-like Cap acted, and Tony felt it too, at times, the whisper in his ears that nagged him to follow the animal's instincts. He was damn lucky he got transformed into a raven, its natural intelligence definitely didn't hurt. Would there be longer-lasting effects? How would the human mind cope with it, and will they return to normal once back in their human bodies?

There was no way to be sure, and while Tony was set on finding a way to reverse the effects, he could tell that his mind didn't run as fast as it used to. He was guessing he should be more worried about that but, well. Ravens don't worry that much in advance, apparently.

***

Peter was out, swinging through the city in his blue-and-red spandex (which wasn't spandex anymore, not since Tony had any say in that), so Tony was alone in the workshop, doing his best to communicate with FRIDAY and push on with the research. However, without Peter there to keep his thoughts focused, too many things distracted Tony from his work.

Which is why he suddenly found himself in a staring contest with Steve the Cat who was sitting on the other side of the glass door.

Rogers was sitting up, nose almost touching the glass panel, in all his Maine Coon glory, and Tony yearned to touch the soft-looking fur. That part of the human instincts didn't get lost in the process. Tony was perched on a wheeled chair and stared back. Steve was the first to blink, lazily and slowly enough that it seemed somewhat purposeful.

Tony looked on for a while longer before spreading his wings with a pointed croak. FRIDAY, bless her, understood and opened the door to the lab. Tony hoped he wouldn't come to regret it.

***

The glass panel walls of the workshop muted the sounds from the inside, but as long as Tony didn't order otherwise, they stayed transparent. Anyone who'd happen to stand by the entrance to the lab would be free to watch the antics of the unusual animal duo.

Natasha walked out of the elevator right in time to see a raven perched on cat's back, directing his mount across the room with the flaps of wings.

"How much would you say the cat has taken over Steve's mind?" she asked Bucky, who had been standing there long enough to have made himself comfortable against the wall. The man snickered in response.

"Have you ever seen a cat so smitten?" Bucky shook his head. "I haven't. Stevie's still fully in charge in there, but... he might be treating it as his one chance."

Natasha hummed as they both watched Tony jump up the desk and rummage through the tools.

"It's unusual for Steve to be this aware of his own feelings," she observed neutrally.

The raven held a piece of chalk in his beak triumphantly, jumped down to the floor and drew a square box on the ground. He then scooted away and looked intently at the cat.

"S’not the first time Stevie has me to thank for calling him out."

The cat stood up from where he rested, walked into the white square and turned around in place a couple of times, before lying down, facing Tony, and blinking, just once, oh so very slow.

***

Steve the cat was dozing on a blanket in his corner of the lab. (He purred loudly when Tony hopped out of the lab to drag Steve's blanket inside.)

That left Tony to his own devices, and there was something that he'd kept putting off. Flying. A part of him had been dying to try it, to fly without the suit, but he also knew how long it took hatchlings to develop the skill. He wasn't sure if his bird instincts would cover that. Sure, he flapped his wings to jump higher successfully, but he hadn't fully taken off the ground.

He glanced back at the sleeping Maine Coon. Steve's behaviour was a mystery he couldn't solve. At first, he tried coaxing the cat into silly things just to mess with Cap, but by now he had his suspicions about how sentient Steve remained. Cap played with the laser dot, he seemed to enjoy boxes, but he hadn't showed other cat instincts even once. He hadn't tried swatting a bird fluttering around him, he hadn't tried to hunt Tony either. Frankly, it wasn't a question whether Steve's brain was still human that remained, it was the question of why he seemed to enjoy Tony's company so much.

Tony started climbing DUMM-E's arm. The bot chirped happily and obediently moved to provide an easier grip.

Peter kept hinting that Steve had always been protective of Tony, and thinking back, the kid might've been right. Cap was always acting like a self-appointed mother-hen, which in turn pissed Tony off and never failed to lead to a fight.

If you summed it up, not much had changed when they got turned into animals. Steve was still too damn protective, Tony teased him mercilessly in revenge, but at the end of the day, they seemed to tolerate each other enough. At least as long as they couldn't speak.

Angry at the conclusion, Tony spread his wings and jumped off the bot with a croak.

He soared! 

He tried to twist mid-air and move his wings to make a sharp turn, but he mistimed it and instead of achieving a graceful swoop, he ended up frantically flapping wings to save himself from plummeting down. Quick calculations pointed to the optimal landing, the only soft enough spot near the floor to crash at.

"Mrreow!"

***

The problem with super-soldier metabolism was that it didn't slow down when Steve got turned into a cat, and the kitchen was not exactly fitted for animal use.

When Tony, ever the insomniac, went to look for Steve in the middle of the night, he found Cap in the dark kitchen, angrily swiping his paw at the fridge. He turned to glance at Tony when he jumped on the chair and perched at its top, but then ignored the raven in favour of climbing up the cupboard and attempting once more to open the fridge with his paws. He was tall and strong enough, but the angle wasn't quite right and the door didn't budge.

Tony would've snickered if he could, but, with a plan forming in his head, he hopped across the table and jumped down onto Steve's back. Cap hadn't expected that, and startled with an irritated yelp. Tony, having immediately leapt from there to the counter, looked back at him and let out a laughing croak at the sight of Steve's indignant look and puffed up tail.

It would be so much easier if flying wasn't so damn hard, he admitted to himself, trying to find a purchase on his way up the fridge. When he got there and peeked over the edge at Steve, he could see the exact moment when Cap understood Tony's plan.

He croaked once and the cat got into position. Twice, he readied himself. Third croak and together they pushed the door open.

When Tony fell, stumbling out of balance, he fell on Steve.

(There seemed to be a pattern, with Steve and Tony, and falling.)

***

Fury hated it when they blatantly ignored him, so Steve usually made sure that they got done with their debriefs as soon as possible. Most of the team wasn't as keen on sharing, however, so when even Natasha decided that spreading word of Captain America and Iron Man being incapacitated was ill-advised, no one contested her.

Apparently, over a week of the team ignoring SHIELD's calls was enough to warrant a personal visit from Director Fury himself. And he was furious (Tony would've cackled at that pun).

"Avengers! Debrief, now!"

FRIDAY let him in, as she was supposed to, unless Tony or Cap explicitly told her not to, but neither of them could manage that at that moment. Fury strode across Avengers' living quarters and headed to the conference room. Clearly, he wasn't expecting any resistance, and in fact, he met none. At this point, the Avengers who lived in the Tower all knew it was easier to save the fight with Fury for the things that mattered more.

Tony glanced disapprovingly at the distance to the conference room. Skittering gracelessly all the way in front of Fury was out the question, so for a brief moment he considered skipping the meeting outright, but then Steve trotted to the chair Tony was perched on and looked at him expectantly. Tony shrugged mentally and hopped down on the cat's back.

They got to the meeting room just when Fury was getting worked up, and, engrossed in his monologue, he didn't notice them at first.

"...might be the heroes, but even heroes have responsibilities, I would've expected at least Widow to understand that! Captain America's suddenly too busy polishing his shield to show his face and answer his goddamn phone?!"

Tony felt insulted on Steve's behalf and the raven part of him thought about pecking his remaining eye. He was focused on Fury's face and that's probably the only reason he noticed a brief moment of... fear? when Steve nimbly leapt to his usual chair. Interesting.

"And you what, decided to fuck off and adopt a cat now?!"

"So what if we did?" Clint asked with a hint of a warning in his voice, surprising Tony who, again, was climbing up to perch on Steve's chair. Hawkeye was usually the last one to take anything seriously, and Fury only measured him with an incredulous glare, but when it didn't work, he let it go.

"Anything else you have to say?" Fury did his best to look ominous, but in bird vision his usually black coat wasn't looking as intimidating.

Tony couldn't help himself.

"Crrraw crrraw caark?" he squawked mockingly, spreading his raven wings a little in a parody of Fury's coat.

Fury glared hard, but Bruce chuckled, so Tony still counted it as a win.

"Is that a fucking raven?"

"Crrrraw caarrrk craw?" Tony parroted. What did Fury think? That he was a flamingo?

"What the hell is it doing in the-"

Fury attempted to scare the bird away with a swipe of his arm, and Tony was ready to bounce back from the chair, but the arm never reached him. Instead, it was Fury who took a step back and was warily eying the massive cat that suddenly vaulted to the tabletop and placed himself in the way.

"What the..."

"Mreow," Steve the cat meowed innocently.

Fury blinked once. Twice. Hawkeye burst with laughter. Bucky lasted not even a second longer.

"Rogers," Fury growled with understanding, eyes still trained on the cat. He looked up to the raven. "Stark."

Tony let out a croak in confirmation. The Maine Coon sat down on top of the conference table, meowing softly.

Director of SHIELD lowered himself on a chair with a heavy sigh.

***

They got used to their routine, Tony doing his best to work in his lab with Steve watching him from his blanket in the corner. It worked well. Sometimes Tony was even forgetting that he was waiting to turn back human, and when it finally happened, in all honesty, it took him by surprise.

He was lucky that for a change he wasn't perched on the back of a chair, but stood on a bare floor. He got away with a slight sway on his feet and that was all. No confusion, no blacking out, a blink and he was human.

Steve, however, was caught in the middle of a stroll across the workshop, and the change found him carefully balanced on the table's edge, and shape-shifting made him fall to the ground quite spectacularly. Tony huffed a laugh and had a taunting comment right on his lips, but in the last moment he stopped himself from saying it out loud. Instead, he reached out to pull Steve up.

"No teasing?" Cap lifted his eyebrows, but accepted the engineer's hand gratefully.

When Steve raised to his feet, Tony didn't step back and neither did he let of Steve's hand.

"No. In fact, I think I've discovered something this week, Cap," Tony said.

"Oh?"

Steve tilted his head in curiosity, and Tony smirked with a corner of his lips, still refusing to leave Steve's personal space.

"We seem to get along much better when we're not talking."

"Do we?" Steve smiled back. His gaze slipped down Tony's face and quickly returned back up to look him in the eye. "And what do you want to do with this discovery?"

Tony tugged at Steve's hand, coaxing him to lean down until their foreheads met. He asked himself one last time if that was a good idea; the answer still wasn't clear. Well, sometimes you gotta run before you walk.

"Oh, I can think of something to keep our mouths occupied."


End file.
